Chapter 60

"Xia, have you really decided to leave the company?" Lin Shangyi suddenly turned his head and asked the main person, hoping to find a way to salvage the situation. Seeing that Li Huanle didn't show any reaction, he felt a bit hopeful.

However, perhaps because she felt very safe next to Li Huanle, Xia answered seriously, "I am very grateful for President Lin's care over the past two years, but with such an incident, I really can't stay in the company with peace of mind!"

Xia's words made Lin Shangyi sigh, and he frowned. Looking at Li Huanle's smile and Xia's serious expression, he suddenly changed his tone, "Alright, we can agree to the termination of the contract, but what about this comeback..."

Li Huanle remained silent, still smiling, while Xia became a bit nervous.

"The comeback has already started to build momentum. If we suddenly change it and terminate the contract, who knows what the media will dig up. So the comeback can continue, but the company won't invest much in promotion. Whatever results you get will be up to you, Miss Xia!"

Lin Shangyi's words made Xia a bit disappointed, but she thought it made sense. Since she had decided to terminate the contract, how could the company continue to invest a lot of money in promotion?

Moreover, both Xia and Li Huanle understood Lin Shangyi's underlying meaning: if there was no promotion, and the comeback failed, it would provide a reason for both parties to terminate the contract, such as the company abandoning Xia or Xia losing confidence and wanting to further her studies.

"Words are not enough. I hope President Lin can draft a new contract now, with the contract's expiration date set two months after the album's release!" Li Huanle didn't argue but instead made another request.

Although Lin Shangyi was full of resentment and anger, he still nodded and said, "Of course, but I have shown the greatest sincerity. What about Mr. Li? How do I know you won't change your mind?"

Li Huanle shook his head and smiled, "President Lin, you don't need to worry about that. People are the same; who would do something without any benefit? Since President Lin has generously agreed to our request, once the contract is signed, this matter will be over. But there is one thing..."

"What is it?" Lin Shangyi felt a bit relieved and asked curiously.

Li Huanle's expression suddenly turned serious, and a fierce aura emerged. He said coldly, "If GTB Company plays any dirty tricks behind the scenes, don't blame me for retaliating in the same way!"

Li Huanle's sudden change in demeanor not only scared Lin Shangyi but also startled Xia.

In reality, Li Huanle was thinking, "Hehe, the actor's self-cultivation is quite effective!"

...

At 2 PM, Li Huanle and Xia left GTB Company and went to a restaurant for a slightly late lunch.

Afterward, the two temporarily parted ways. Only a few top executives at GTB Company knew about the new contract, and they only informed the head of the publicity department to lower the promotion level for Xia's new album. Everything else remained the same.

In the following week, Xia continued practicing at the company and was also invited by Li Huanle to visit the Kim brothers' recording studio. When she learned that Li Huanle was the Happy Musician, her face showed a hint of surprise.

Quan Baolan and Li Zhiyan were also surprised, not expecting Li Huanle to have such a classmate.

Interestingly, except for the game addict Zheng Junying with panda eyes, everyone else was born in 1986. It was indeed a coincidence.

Another thing that pleased Li Huanle was that on March 4th, major mainstream media and print newspapers were filled with scandals about the Choi family's company.

The investment director was photographed meeting with a competitor in private.

The development director was caught accepting red envelopes...

The chairman was caught in a passionate embrace with his mistress in an underground garage.

Leaders of various departments in the Choi family's company were all embroiled in serious scandals. Most critically, the chairman's meeting with a high-ranking tax official and their subsequent visit to a high-end club caused a huge stir.

The Choi family's company wasn't an international enterprise, but it was quite powerful domestically. Unfortunately, it didn't receive official protection.

In reality, neither Li Huanle nor Bai Xiangyong knew that when Old Niu directly dumped these materials onto the servers of Asahi Shimbun, Seoul Daily, and other major media outlets, everyone had some considerations and contacted the higher-ups to decide whether to report on it extensively.

The answer they received was to publicize the incident on a large scale. In recent years, South Korea's real estate industry had become increasingly outrageous, and the government had taken multiple measures to curb it, with some success.

However, the major conglomerates had banded together, and even with various regulations, the control over housing prices was limited. For example, the housing prices in Gangnam remained sky-high.

This time, the Choi family's company had simply run into trouble. The day after the reports appeared, many of the company's top executives, including the chairman, were summoned by the police.

Such strong measures immediately drew significant attention, and the public had no good feelings toward real estate companies, so they generally cheered.

In the following four days, the Choi family's company's stock prices plummeted, and many ongoing projects were canceled. Tax issues were also uncovered.

Some high-level executives in major companies understood that the Choi family's company was just unlucky to be made an example of. Without a breakthrough, the government might not have taken action, but once there was a breakthrough, the effect was different.

This time, the impact was significant. The head of the Seoul Tax Bureau and the chairman of the Choi family's company received court summonses, and the Choi family's company was in a precarious position.

...

The mastermind behind all this, however, was completely unaware. No matter how smart and capable Li Huanle and Bai Xiangyong were, they were not part of the elite upper class and didn't understand these matters.

Li Huanle's goal was simply to get the Choi family's company embroiled in a scandal so that they wouldn't cause him any trouble at this time.

In fact, no one suspected Li Huanle. Many even thought it was a government operation.

After following the situation for a few days and thanking Bai Xiangyong, Li Huanle stopped paying attention to the Choi family's company. However, in this incident, although Choi Dongjun didn't have any scandals exposed, he was still dragged into the mess because his wife was an actress.

In reality, it wasn't that there were no scandals about Choi Dongjun. After obtaining some information about Choi Dongjun, Li Huanle had a new plan.

So he sent a small part of the photos and information to... Han Chae-young.

This time, the factory crisis was resolved in the midst of the turmoil. Apart from Li Huanle's close friends, only Li Yuanba called to ask about it.

No matter what, this time it was indeed a stroke of luck. The Choi family's company was likely to collapse, if not completely, then at least suffer significant damage and a tarnished reputation. While it might not go bankrupt, its future would be rocky.

...

On March 13th, at the SBS headquarters, this was Li Huanle's third visit here.